Urge Your Senators to Support Reauthorization of VAWA, as amended by the End Abuse Later in Life Act

Submitted on February 9, 2012 - 6:17pm

JSPAN strongly supports
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, S 1925 (VAWA), as amended by
the End Abuse Later in Life Act, which expired in 2011. We encourage our
members and others to contact their Senators and urge support for this critical
bill. Now is the
time for Congress to again demonstrate its commitment to the victims and
survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and
elder abuse voting to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

In 1994, when first
authorized, VAWA was a giant step forward for the county. Its passage meant
that our federal government finally acknowledged that domestic and sexual violence
cause tremendous harm to our society, and invested real resources into helping
victims and survivors. Millions of people, including children and families, are
better off as a result. This historic measure increased options for victims and
enabled many survivors to leave abusive relationships. It also improved the
criminal justice system’s response to violence by training police and
prosecutors to respond more effectively.

In 2000, Congress
reauthorized VAWA, continuing this essential work and adding important services
for immigrant, rural, disabled and older women. In 2005, VAWA was expanded to
focus services on Native American women and immigrant women. It included new
programs focused on sexual assault victims, prevention, men and boys, and the
needs of teen dating violence victims and child witnesses of domestic violence.
The evidence shows that VAWA is working.
Over the past fifteen years, we have finally begun to make progress as
domestic and sexual violence has started to decline. Since its passage in 1994,
more victims report domestic violence to the police and the rate of non-fatal
intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 53 percent. But there
is still more work to be done. Each day in America, on average, three are
murdered by their husband or boyfriend.

Additionally,
every year hundreds of thousands of older individuals suffer from elder abuse
which consists of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect,
exploitation, and abandonment. The amendments to VAWA would continue to support
a critical grant program that addresses the epidemic of elder abuse while
making necessary improvements to the existing program. By improving direct
services for victims of elder abuse and increasing the number of eligible partners
that can participate in multidisciplinary training programs, more community
stakeholders will be able to address this growing crisis.

The
Violence Against Women Act of 2011 must be reauthorized and strengthened to
improve our nation’s response to these pervasive and insidious crimes.

How to Contact Your Senators
to Urge Passage of VAWA

To show your support and
encourage your Senators to vote for passage, simply go to the following web
addresses that are set up to facilitate the process: